Richard de Nooy
@richarddenooy
Author of novels, short stories and non-fiction in Dutch and English | currently dabbling in screenwriting | prone to curiosity and enthusiasm | Will accept money to write.
In the Golden Age, men who couldn't grow a proper moustache often used a cat's tail to get the desired masculine effect. Look closely:
Dutch people always sit in a circle at birthday parties. The circle keeps getting bigger, until you can only speak to the person on either side of you. No one knows why. It is one of life's great mysteries. #FolkloreFriday
Thanks again to Denmark for covering our defence spending over the past eight years.
LET’S BEAT THE HEAT Our thoughts are with Miss Belted who today completely melted, transformed into a puddle on Dam Square. The heat took her in a minute as she was out there in it – in case you’re wondering who, what, when and where. Please hydrate before reading the full translation below.
Despite a firm berating: “Watch out, you’re dissipating!” she stayed as stubborn as she’d always been And like a stick of butter, but bigger, dripped into the gutter, as witnessed from the palace by the queen.
Our thoughts are with Miss Belted who today completely melted, transformed into a puddle on Dam Square. The heat took her in a minute as she was out there in it – in case you’re wondering who, what, when and where. (Annie M.G. Schmidt | translated by Richard de Nooy)
This gentleman has it harder, although he is less in the public eye.
Name a TV show you're positive no one remembers but you. (Only now do I see it was translated by André Brink.)
The Dutch Eel Smoking Championship combines two quintessentially Dutch cultural phenomena: fish and the smoking of possibly illegal substances. Sadly, few other countries can compete at the high standard set by the Dutch, which means eel smoking is unlikely to become an olympic sport.
Wonderful to see that they found the perfect person to write this intriguing piece.
If it wasn't for AI-generated translations, I would have no idea what was going on here. So let's not be too critical, shall we?
Somehow cartoonists see things happening well in advance. Perhaps all their ideas are stolen by villains.
Poetry is not a helpful thing. It makes you stop and feel Unexpectedly. Abruptly word order changing CAPITALISING poetically Using punctuation to play With your emotions. Yours! Compelling you to think Of your mother’s final breath...
Wow, how little has changed since 1943, except reality. (via Paavo Kässi on Mastodon)
What can we surmise, if anything, from the fact that 10 times as many Dutch neighbours fly flags on Liberation Day than they do on Remembrance Day?
Somehow I can't suppress the urge to share this at least once a year.
“Are you armouredelions?” “We’re building a tank.” “Why?” “We want to start a war.” “That’s madness!” “It will bring peace.” “People will get killed!” “New ones will be born.” “There will be sadness and suffering!” “We need to wage war to prevent war.” “What?!” “It’ll be over soon.” “Stop!”